In separate incidents, two sexual harassment incidents in railways were reported on the same day. A 21-year-old man from Malad has been arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) for allegedly groping a woman inside the elevator at the Andheri railway station. Meanwhile, the CSMT GRP has launched a manhunt to trace a man in his 30s, who allegedly molested a collegian inside a moving train between CSMT and Masjid. He flashed and punched the victim.
The first incident
The first incident took place on Wednesday when the 26-year-old woman was returning from her native. She was the lone passenger to enter the elevator at the Andheri station. Suddenly, the accused, Ishbu Patel, barged in and molested her. As the elevator reached near the foot over bridge, a home guard heard the woman's cries and rushed to help. He pinned down Patel who attempted to run. He was subsequently arrested.
The second incident
In the second incident which also occurred on the same day, the 23-year-old collegian was travelling from CSMT to her college in Wadala. The victim usually takes the 7am CSMT-Panvel train. On the day of the assault, she said the coach was empty and the train stopped between CSMT and Masjid when a man in his 30s entered the rake from the tracks. According to the police, he flashed at her as the train started to move. As she started to shout, he hurled abuses.
The accused then tried to attack her and ended up punching the victim in one of her eyes. "She hit him using her footwear. A man in the adjacent disabled coach started yelling at the accused and he jumped off the moving train," said an official. After getting down at the Wadala station, a railway police personnel instructed her to go to the CSMT GRP office.
Senior Inspector Vijay Tayde said that a manhunt has been launched to nab the accused. “He ran away from the tracks towards Dongri, Pydhonie market side. Based on the disabled eyewitness and the victim’s description, we are looking for him now, said the cop, suspecting the accused to be a repeated offender.
